The present invention relates to the field design of heat exchangers. The invention has particular application to shell and tube heat exchangers.
Single flow and multiple flow shell and tube heat exchangers are widely used. In the single flow heat exchanger, one fluid passes through the heat exchanger between the shell and the tubes enclosed within the heat exchanger and the other fluid passes through the tubes. One of these fluids is cooled, and the other is heated. In the multiple flow heat exchanger, several groups of tubes are enclosed within the heat exchanger shell. A different fluid passes through each group of tubes, but only one fluid passes through the region between the shell and the tubes.
In modern power, chemical and other plants requiring heat exchange between different streams of fluid, it may be necessary to cause heat to transfer from several heating streams to several cooling streams. Such heat exchange is typically carried out through the use of several heat exchangers. This complicates the plant layout, making it difficult to properly balance the heat transfer. Accordingly, there is a need for a heat exchanger that provides for heat transfer from several heating streams to several cooling streams. The heat exchanger of the present invention provides such an apparatus.